


Boys Reading Books

by an_odd_ducky



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Implied Bagginshield, M/M, Modern AU, bilbo/bofur friendship, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-19
Updated: 2015-01-19
Packaged: 2018-03-08 04:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3195350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/an_odd_ducky/pseuds/an_odd_ducky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo and Bofur discuss the risks of dating bad boys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boys Reading Books

**Author's Note:**

> Songbird Short Stories is a project between willaswillow and me. Each Wednesday we announce on tumblr a song choice, and then we each write a ~500 word short story based on our creative interpretations of our own song choices and each other's song choices - so 2 stories each - and post by Sunday. We can use any Hobbit characters/pairing of our choosing.
> 
> WEEK ONE
> 
> Song Inspiration: [Wildest Dreams](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk_FpvlrKcw) by Taylor Swift (chosen by willaswillow)

“Oh, now this is just ridiculous.”

Bilbo Baggins frowned down at the open book on the counter, a damp rag held forgotten in one hand.

“And what have you got there?” Bofur chuckled. Over a year they’d worked at Express-o (a regrettable name for the best little coffee shop in town) together, and Bofur had long since learned that a book in Bilbo’s hands could be a dangerous thing. 

“Three months I’ve been waiting for someone to take One Hundred Years of Solitude off that shelf, Bofur,” Bilbo growls, gesturing to the little bookshelf in the corner where a sign hung, cheerfully declaring ‘Take a Book, Leave a Book.’ “Three months I’ve waited for someone to recognize the-the work of genius that went into it. And I show up this morning and finally! Someone has taken it! But what did they leave in its place?” He flips the book on the counter up so Bofur can see the cover. A shirtless man in blue jeans plastered the front cover, holding a swooning damsel in his arms, beneath the words “Passion’s Embrace” in a large pink font. 

Bofur laughs. “I know for a fact you’ve read every trashy romance novel on that shelf and enjoyed a fair few of them, so I don’t know why you’re complaining.”

Bilbo blushed pink but didn’t deny the accusation. “Yes, well, the main character in this one is even more daft that usual,” he grumbled, glaring at the offending book. “She’s practically got the bloke laid out on a platter but refuses to go on a date with him because she thinks they’ll end badly.”

“I don’t see what’s so wrong with that,” Bofur answers truthfully, tossing Bilbo a fresh damp towel to finish wiping the tables. 

“Oh, Bofur,” Bilbo scoffs. “You’re telling me you wouldn’t date someone you liked just because you assumed they’d break your heart one day? Just because they fit the stereotype of the classic bad boy everyone wants but no one can catch?”

"Like that handsome bloke we've had come in three days in a row, is that it?"

"Yes! Exactly like--" Bilbo froze where he stood in the middle of the lobby, then turned quickly to face Bofur. "I mean...I'm quite sure I don't know who you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do," Bofur grinned at him. "Tall, gorgeous hair, muscles better than Hercules himself, never smiles." 

"He smiles..." Bilbo argued weakly, wiping down a table near the window.

"Ah, well, must be just for you, then," Bofur answered, smirking when the tips of Bilbo's ears went red. "Aye, he's top of the tier for heartbreakers, that much you can tell."

"Maybe," Bilbo said, sighing tiredly as he watched the traffic pass on the street outside without really seeing it. He padded back to the counter, closing the book and replacing it on the book swap shelf. "But, you know, relationships are a lot like reading a book. It's not really the ending that matters at all. It's what you learn from reading it in the first place."

“Yes, well, I’ve read a few of those romances myself, you know,” Bofur chuckled. “Awful endings, every one of them. And you know what they taught me?”  
“What’s that?”  
“Not to read any more of them.”  
And Bilbo laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to visit our tumblr blogs for first access to our chosen songs each week: [an-odd-ducky](http://an-odd-ducky.tumblr.com/) and [willaswillow](http://willaswillow.tumblr.com).


End file.
